Texas Rangers 2013 Spring Training preview: Catchers

Texas Rangers' Geovany Soto hits a three-run home run off Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Bruce Chen during the second inning of a baseball game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Monday, Sept. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

AP2012

A.J. Pierzynski of the Texas Rangers (Associated Press)

CORPUS CHRISTI - With Spring Training underway and only one notable free agent still on the market (Kyle Lohse), I think it is safe to say that the off-season is over for the Texas Rangers. For a team that has had such deep pockets over the past few years and that has such high expectations after making the World Series twice in the past three seasons, I think it is fair to say that their free agent haul was underwhelming. On top of losing Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli to free agency, the Rangers missed out on signing Zach Grienke, Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher and Ryan Dempster and whiffed on Justin Upton and James Shields in the trade market.

The catch of the off-season ended up being catcher A.J. Pierzynski. The Rangers got the 36-year old veteran on a one-year, $7.5 million deal. Assuming good health, you can expect Pierzynski to play around 120 games behind the plate while also getting a few starts as the designated hitter.

Pierzynski is coming off his best season in a decade and perhaps the best year of his career. He posted 3.4 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), the second highest of his career, while putting up a career high .501 slugging percentage and 27 homers. Pierzynski's previous career high was 16 homers and he hadn't hit that many since 2006. It was certainly an unexpected burst of power that led to a career high in runs, RBI, weight runs created and weighted on-base average. Pierzynski ended up leading all major league catchers in homers and isolated power despite never showing signs of being a power hitter before.

The question is whether or not that was a fluke season, or if Pierzynski has morphed into a power hitter. It's not often that you see that huge of a jump for a 36-year old in his 14th season, so I would not be expecting a repeat performance from Pierzynski in his debut season as a Ranger, though the Ballpark in Arlington may help him get to around 15-18 homers, which would be tremendous in any season of his career expect last year. Even still, we are much more likely to see him decline this season than to see him come close to his numbers from last year.

The good news is that Pierzynski has always been a solid hitting catcher without elite power. He's a career .284 hitter, doesn't strike out a ton and someone that drives in his fair share of runners. The downside is that he never walks, doesn't get around the bases well and has an average on-base percentage for his career. With Pierzynski being the best bat the Rangers brought in this off-season, we can expect their usually elite home run totals to go down this year, because A.J. is not going to make much of a dent when it comes to replacing the power production of Napoli and Hamilton. The most valuable thing that Pierzynski brings to the table on offense may be that he's a consistent left-handed bat to stick in the middle of the order.

Behind the plate, Pierzynski is a bit of a mixed bag. The numbers don't like him defensively; he ranked among the worst catchers in baseball in blocking pitches and throwing runners out and he wasn't special as a pitch framer. That said, there is some quantitative research out there that shows Pierzynski has prevented one of the largest sums of runs in baseball history because of the way he handles his pitching staff.

How much will Pierzynski's ability to handle a staff matter in his first season with a new team, particularly when his personality has been a bit of a red flag over the course of his career? That's something that I can't predict. Pierzynski has always struck me as a Kevin Garnett type - you know, the kind of player that irks you every time you play him but whose teammates love him - so it's possible that Pierzynski has made a good impression with his new squad this spring and that he'll actually have some defensive value simply by handling the staff well. This is something that's hard to know now but that will be extremely interesting to follow throughout the course of the season.

Backing up Pierzynski this season is a catcher that played for his Chicago rival: Geovany Soto. Soto was traded to the Rangers last season in a deadline deal for minor league pitcher Jacob Brigham. Soto had 148 at-bats for the Rangers last season, which was enough for him to disproof the ole "change of scenery" theory, at least in his case; he failed to raise the .199 average that prompted the Cubs to deal him, putting up a .196 clip with Texas. Despite this, Ron Washington still put him in the line-up for their one-game playoff against the Orioles.

Soto was once a solid offensive catcher, which I suppose is why the Rangers gave him a one-year, $2.75 million contract this summer to act as Pierzynski's back-up. It's possible that the 30-year old Soto never has a solid offensive season again, but for the price and without a long-term commitment, I don't mind his deal. I don't want him sopping up too many at-bats if he continues to hit below the Mendoza line, but he's an OK defensive catcher that can spot-start once or twice in a fortnight.

Eli Whiteside, 33, was claimed over waivers by the Rangers in December and entered camp as a non-roster invitee. His value to the team is as a defensive specialist and he's someone that Giants' vice president of baseball operations Bobby Evans praised for being "a pitchers' favorite." The numbers agree with his reputation, as he's thrown out a solid percentage of baserunners and been about 202 strikes above average (pitch framing) over the past three seasons. Unfortunately, Whiteside doesn't have an offensive game to speak and the only way I can see him cracking the line-up on a regular basis is if he and Colby Lewis become really good friends while Whiteside catches him during rehab and demands that Eli become his personal catcher. In that case, I think Ron Washington would petition the league to allow him to DH for Whiteside instead of Lewis.

DOWN ON THE FARM

Jorge Alfaro - All three of the catchers listed above are 30 or older and, for the most part, horrible, so having a catching prospect to look forward to down the line is necessity. Alfaro was born one month before I was, so he's still a raw young kid with a ways to go before he's playing in Arlington, but he showcased solid bat speed and power during his first season playing American baseball. His defense will be the focal point of his development but he has a strong arm and projects to stay behind the plate.

Jose Felix - Felix is a 24-year old catching prospect that has been playing in the Rangers' system since 2008. Last year was his third season at Double-A Frisco and it was also his best pro season to date. He had 306 plate appearances for the Rough Riders, hitting .260 with seven homers and 41 RBI. He has shown no ability to draw walks thus far in his career and hasn't shown much power, either. Felix is looking more and more like a defensive prospect every year with his bat failing to come along significantly. On the brightside, he has gunned down a solid percentage of baserunners in the minors.

Tomas Telis - Telis has spent his time with the Rangers rotating between the DH spot and the catcher position. His part-time role as a catcher is intriguing because of how well he has played offensively, but I am not sure he ends up sticking behind the plate for the rest of his career. If he can, he may be a sleeper prospect for the Rangers.

Konrad Schmidt - As a 28-year old, Schmidt is not really a prospect. The Rangers claimed him off waivers in November and he was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training. He appears to be nothing more than an emergency catcher that waits in Triple-A for a call-up, if that.